1. Villanueva State Park,NM, on April, 2008. It was early in the evening, and Orion was low in the southwest, but I saw B33, as a shimmering black blob, larger than I had expected, using a 12.5" dob and Orion Lanthanum 22mm EP, with a Lumicon H-Beta filter.

2. Cherry Springs State Park, PA, in Sept, 2009. Saw B33 through a 15" Obsession. Don't know the EP. As the object rose higher in the eastern sky, the horsehead shape became very obvious.

I've been lucky enough to see the horsehead several times, but never through less than 18", good darkness, and an H-beta filter. And as noted here, it's better described as a thumb in the pudding, because seeing IC434 is the key. But recently down at the OzSky Safari in Australia, I was fortunate to view it through a 30" scope. I could see the snout with direct vision. The complete chess piece easily. It was astounding

Last night, I could just barely see the Horsehead from my magnitude 5.5 driveway using my 14 inch f/4.6 Newtonian and the DGM Optics NPB filter. It is a lot easier with the H-Beta, but I kind of wanted to see if I could still do it from my home with just the narrow-band NPB filter. Nice to see that the NPB could still do the job even though just barely. Clear skies to you.

Excellent sketch Carol , that will be a big help to me the next time I try to locate it. I tried last year with my 10" F4 but no joy. I've been busy on my observatory so once I get some time I'll give it another try

I think I was close with my DSI but just couldn't find it
Thanks
Norm

Attached Files

Excellent sketch Carol , that will be a big help to me the next time I try to locate it. I tried last year with my 10" F4 but no joy. I've been busy on my observatory so once I get some time I'll give it another try

I think I was close with my DSI but just couldn't find it
Thanks
Norm

Thanks Norm, glad to be of help - good luck, and i hope you bag it on your next try.
BTW, we're accustomed to seeing the Horsehead as a tiny little notch in images, but it's actually quite big so make sure your fov is wide enough - i used a 1.25" Meade 32mm Plossl for the sketch.

I had a very good view of B33 on the night of October 16th through an H-beta filtered 18" StarStructure Dob. We were at the summit of Spruce Knob in West Virginia, at an altitude of over 4800 feet, but the conditions that night were not exceptional, unfortunately.

I "suspected" seeing B33 through my 10" Sky-Watcher Collapsible Dob, a 21mm Denkmeier, and an Orion H-beta filter from one of the better local dark sites on Sunday night.

I didn't mention it but that picture I attached that I took with my DSI was in the general area of the horsehead, anyone have an idea how far I was off ? A friend of mine thought it was a jet contrail but it was there the next night

I know this has nothing to do with actually observing the Horsehead, but I have to mention that my "love affair" with this great nebula started back in the early 80s. long before the internet era, when, as a high school student, came accross a book by the late Sir Patrick Moore entitled "The Unfolding Universe". That book kick-started my passionate interest in deep-sky observing, and out of all the images in it, the one that caught most my imagination was the one on page 177, showing the area of Zeta Orionis in full color. It more or less took me 25 years (from 1984 to 2009) until I was finally succesful in seeing the real HorseHead!

R.I.P. Sir Patrick Moore, and thanks so much for inspiring both my deep-sky "career" and also my passion for the HorseHead Nebula!

One night in December I was showing it at a remote (blue zone) dark site to a club member. He was doing long-exposure imaging of it and walked over, and I asked if he wanted to see it visually. He had seen it visually from that site before with a much larger scope than my 16" (28" if I remember he said). I had my finder eyepiece in - Pentax 40mm - and just screwed in the Limicon H-beta I had in my pocket for a quick look, although I did not know what to expect at such a low magnification. My f/4.5 16" at 45x gives an exit pupil larger than my fully dark-adapted pupil and therefore works as a 12" at best. I pretty much just pointed it at Alnitak with the Telrad, and there it was, IC 434, lacking internal detail maybe but sharply enough outlined with dust. It turned out that both of us could see the Horsehead easily. I remember that it looked angular, i.e. more than a shapeless notch but with a recognizable flattened top of the head. The separation of the snout from the neck however could not be seen at that magnification. The separation is child's play with that scope (and in fact with my 12" too) at that site at a proper higher magnification in my previous experience. This time it was just a casual look though and we drifted off in our conversation instead of going to more normal magnifications I use with this scope. I believe I had never seen it at the maximum exit pupil before (I hope that mine is still close to the 7 mm that I measured a few years ago but fear measuring it again ), so I thought this observation curious enough to post.

My stargazing buddy and I got the Horsehead tonight. This was our first serious attempt. We would not have persevered and succeeded without the excellent sketches posted here, especially Carol's. Also, the comments 'It's bigger than you think' really helped.

Orion was on the meridian, seeing was very good, moon not up for a few more minutes. We used his Z12 and my 13T6, no filter. The wind chill made this even more challenging (5 degrees F). Thanks again, everybody!

So I think I'm going to give this guy a shot Saturday night. Making a trip out to a green zone and the weather is stacking up for it to be great, transparent conditions. I'd never thought to give it a try with my 8" before, but after reading this thread I see that a few people have managed it. Only problem is I have no filter. Has anyone had any luck in an 8" without a filter? I'm going to give it a shot without one, and might ask my club if anyone has one I can borrow if that fails. There should also be at least one large aperture scope set up, so perhaps I'll give it a shot in one first to get a feel for what I'm looking for.

Last trip to this sight I got a remarkable view of the Flame and transparency wasn't even all that great. Didn't even think about heading down to the HH with my 8", but boy was I enjoying the Flame. Quite bright with the maple leaf shape very obvious and all 3 dark lanes easy. No averted vision even needed.

Well I had not logged on CN for quite some time until recently and I realized just how long it had been since I had spent any quality time with my scopes. Went out a few times recently and finally bagged the elusive Horsehead. I should say more like bagging a very faint flat topped pyramid. Conditions weren't that great, but I was pretty sure I did see the thumbprint of B33. Didn't realize this thread had been pinned up top until I did a search for it. Looking at Carol's sketch, that was pretty hat I saw, though she may have been exaggerating the amount of contrast between the bright and dark clouds. What I will look for next time is the little "cap" of stars that sits above the horse's head. I am hoping this weekend will provide better conditions with a waning moon.

I am going to try with the 6"APO and the H-beta filter since I know right where to look now.

For both of us the Middle-Georgia weather is a pain. It changes faster than the weather in England. I'm in Warner Robins.

About three weeks ago, I think I saw the Horse Head. I didn't see it direct but with averted vision and an OIII filter. Or I was seeing thins. I slew 30 minutes south of Alnitak. I can easily see NGC-2023 nebulosity. Tomorrow evening, March 3rd is supposed to be clear. I shall make my assault on the Horse Head and use my Brand New 7mm Type 6 Nagler. Did you hear Bob Barker in there?

For both of us the Middle-Georgia weather is a pain. It changes faster than the weather in England. I'm in Warner Robins.

About three weeks ago, I think I saw the Horse Head. I didn't see it direct but with averted vision and an OIII filter. Or I was seeing thins. I slew 30 minutes south of Alnitak. I can easily see NGC-2023 nebulosity. Tomorrow evening, March 3rd is supposed to be clear. I shall make my assault on the Horse Head and use my Brand New 7mm Type 6 Nagler. Did you hear Bob Barker in there?

It is highly doubtful that you saw it with an OIII filter. The background nebula that the Horsehead is in (IC 434) has almost zero OIII emission (H-alpha and H-Beta only), so a true OIII filter will basically kill the nebula. Try either a good narrow-band nebula filter like the Lumicon UHC or DGM NPB, or an H-Beta filter like the Lumicon H-Beta. That may give you a fighting chance of seeing the Horsehead. Clear skies to you.

Kraus,I made it out until a little after midnight. Was able to show the horsehead to my son. I was not able to focus very well on Jupiter as the sky was not to steady. Checked off E and F in the Trapezium, then got my Goto calibrated pretty well and went galaxy hunting. Checked off a pretty good list from Camelopardalis to Ursa Major. One of these days I am going to slow down and observe more, but at this point the quantity of collections of a Half a billion stars or more just amazes me. Seeing new ones for the first time never ceases to wow me. Seeing old friends like M 81 and 82 with the details they give up with only a short glance never gets old.

I just wish our skies were as drk as they were when I was a boy. The way our weather changes with a heartbeat, I can't think of packing things up to drive out to a dark site. I am sure the clouds would hold off just until I got the scop together collimated and aligned on two stars only to turn to total overcast as I changed out my reticle eyepiece for a wide field one.

Clear skies to you. If I don't go fishing this weekend I plan to go on a planetary nebula hunt before the throngs of galaxies from Leo, Coma, the Virgin and Canes Venatici are thrown our way. Will try to give some reports and actually do some observing.

Very good. If the wind lets up this evening, I'll be at the telescope. Mr, Bakich's column in this month's Astronomy has some interesting targets.

I was here in 1976-1978 at Robins AFB as a young airman. I wasn't telescope savy. I was flying radio controlled planes but I do remember how the skies just a few miles from the base went quite dark. I could see lots but had no idea what I saw. I Wasn't constellation aware back then.